Scavenger concept

[regi]

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The Concept

Scavenger revolves around an explorer in an unfamiliar world piecing together its history. Though the continent appears devoid of human life, clues of ancestral beings exist: mossy structures, overgrown paths, and broken artifacts. In search of Elemental Essences, the protagonist must traverse countless terrains and dungeons filled with wild creatures and traps. Only with all the artifacts collected can the scavenger discover how the world came to be.

The game falls under the classic Zelda cliche, collect X items scattered in various dungeons, but with a unique twist: each Essence will reveal a piece of backstory, which opens up a new area or gives a new clue to a previous dungeon. Gameplay will be the simple one-player ABS, with enemies to fight and puzzles to solve. The protagonist will accumulate an arsenal of tools throughout the game to assist in dungeon-crawling.


Premise

Lace (the protagonist), stumbles upon an ancient set of Ruins. Her curiosity peaked, she examines the decrepit remains of countless books, scrolls, artifacts, and realizes she is in the remnants of an ancient Library. She discovers that it had burned down long ago. After exploring the inferno in a horrifying memory, Lace finds a broken looking glass that seems to be the key to the memories. She resolves to fix it by journeying around the world, exploring past civilizations, and piecing their histories back together for clues.

 

[moxie]

I can't really critique anything, it sounds like a way better concept overall! It's always nice to see people favoring integrating gameplay + story instead of having them hugely divided.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

regi i will comment on this sometime in the near-future you're number 1 on my priority list REST ASSURED

i got dibs guys

i got dibs

 

[regi]

Thanks for the feedback! I do have a few questions, actually.

Given that there are no other humans and only limited interactions with animals, would it be detracting or interesting to create a game without dialogue? I'm iffy on the idea of the protagonist just thinking to him/herself throughout the game; but would it be difficult to tell a story through only bubble emoticons, flashbacks, and expressive sprite edits?

Secondly, how complex should I make the backstory: simple as a "defeat evil villain, save the princess" or with layered characters and FF plot twists? I'm leaning toward simplicity, but it's going to be tough stretching out a tiny plot into a bunch of scattered flashbacks. Which leads to my next point; should backstory only be revealed after defeating the boss of each dungeon, or should small fragments be revealed to the player throughout the entire game?

 

[moxie]

I don't have a problem with no dialogue, especially with you focusing on making gameplay fun. You can imply as much or as little as you like, leave things up to the player's interpretation, etc.

Simplicity is good, and if you're going with the "flashbacks from the view points of multiple people" thing, you could use the uncertainty of multiple perspectives concerning the overarching plot to make a normally simple story into something slightly more ambiguous without just dominating the gameplay with cutscenes and exposition dumps.

This is something that a really like to see in games so I'll make another post tomorrow in more detail, but yeah, it sounds like you're on a really neat train of thought with this newest iteration of your game.

 

[regi]

Now that I think about it, something deep yet open-ended left for the player's interpretation seems really cool. I've always wanted to see what other people could come up with out a simple theme or motif. Let's see if I can cook up something neat.

Thanks for all the help! If anyone else has an idea, feel free to chime in!

 

[regi]

I'm having a bit of trouble thinking of some open-ended motifs or themes. To be honest, actually, I'm leaning toward a definitive plotline (it seems too difficult to focus on a broad theme throughout the entire game). I do have some ideas for non-human based encounters, though. The player will interact with certain intelligent animals and creatures throughout the journey; they will in turn reward the player with flashbacks, thoughts, or other items.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

Just gonna chime in with my thoughts since nobody else will.

Yeah, this game would definitely work better without dialogue, I feel. I mean, aside from the flashbacks, there's really no opportunity for dialogue to be introduced without it feeling forced.

I'd like to help coming up with a motif but you're being a little vague here. To really help we'd need a bit more of an idea on what these flashbacks are all about, and what sort of people lived in this place before the player arrives.

 

[Sgt. Cookie]

Should backstory only be revealed after defeating the boss of each dungeon, or should small fragments be revealed to the player throughout the entire game?

I suggest a sort of combination of both, when going through dungeons the player finds shards of the gem, crystal, magic leaf, and that reveals small snippets of conversation, words, thoughts, but no pictures. After the player kills the boss, a "center piece" of the crystal is released and all the shards from around that to form a complete memory.

That's just my take on it.

 

[regi]

Yeah, this game would definitely work better without dialogue, I feel. I mean, aside from the flashbacks, there's really no opportunity for dialogue to be introduced without it feeling forced.

My thoughts too. How far should I go with limiting text, though? Some signposts and letters here and there or just no text, period?

I'd like to help coming up with a motif but you're being a little vague here. To really help we'd need a bit more of an idea on what these flashbacks are all about, and what sort of people lived in this place before the player arrives.

Sorry about that, let me try to elaborate.

I haven't fully compiled my thoughts, but here's the basic premise. The player wakes up in a land completely devoid of human civilization, overgrown with vines and inhabited solely by wild plants and animals. It is years since humans were killed off the planet, but evidence remains. The player must piece together clues and ultimately discovers that some kind of disaster-- natural, or human-induced-- wiped out all human civilization, except for him/her, the lone survivor.

Motifs I'm contemplating include love (e.g. in attempt to revive the protagonist, who died in a tragic accident, her lover used forbidden magic, which doomed the rest of the planet), greed (e.g. a search for a valuable object, like the Philosopher's Stone or a variant gemstone, doomed the planet), or a war or disaster (i.e. I would really like to incorporate a volcanic battle scene flashback I've been planning for years).

I guess what I'm looking for are ideas for flashbacks for an existing motif, or a new one entirely if you have a really great idea. Pointing out which ones you like will be appreciated, too.

I suggest a sort of combination of both, when going through dungeons the player finds shards of the gem, crystal, magic leaf, and that reveals small snippets of conversation, words, thoughts, but no pictures. After the player kills the boss, a "center piece" of the crystal is released and all the shards from around that to form a complete memory.

I do like that idea-- going with the "no dialogue" however, perhaps clues will just be a still image, whereas the complete memory is a movable, interactable flashback. An idea for puzzles would be revealing snapshots of a place in the past (e.g. though you can't find an exit in the Ruins, a snapshot of the real building intact would reveal a staircase behind a small sapling, which has since grown into a giant tree, hiding the staircase).

 

[regi]

I added a poll; would you prefer a silent hero with little significance to start (e.g. Link, Legend of Zelda), or one whose character is intertwined with the actual backstory?

 

[SPN]

Maybe you can save the important, person-focused memory things for the dungeons, but you can scatter little tidbits of history throughout the rest of the game. This way, the player is still forced to reveal the important pieces to the backstory, but they will be rewarded with "side notes" and such, so-to-speak, if they explore, or have the desire to learn more. I think it could work very well.

Here's an idea for the hero too. You could keep him silent, expressing himself visually and through his actions, but maybe every so often (could be at night when he sets up camp or whatever you plan on doing) he could write a journal. This way he's not openly communicating, but we still get some concrete insight into what's going on in his head, you know?

 

[regi]

Someone recently proposed the idea of a forensic-based approach: searching for Artifacts rather than magical containers of memories. This definitely goes well with your suggestion of little bonus clues scattered around the world! I think I will have small clues everywhere that give you a small snapshot of the past; only when you complete a dungeon, however, can you enter a flashback and explore the past world in your imagination.

I'm not sure if the journal is necessary (I feel like the flashbacks are interesting enough), but I'll keep that in mind. It would be a great exercise of my writing skills :P

From the two votes in the polls, it looks like people prefer the protagonist to be someone who influenced the past, and is involved in the history of the world. I'm sure I can try integrating that in. Only thing left is to explain the amnesia factor (hopefully, it won't be too cliche).

 

[regi]

I added a short synopsis which briefly touches on ideas for the backstory. What are your thoughts? Do you dis/like anything, or should something be added?

 

[Cryranos]

I definitely like this. It seems like there would be a lot of possibilities, but I feel that an entire game world devoid of friendly life would feel kind of "empty". I remember playing Spyro 2, and after finishing everything, the game felt really odd, the home levels were empty and extremely melancholy.

 

[regi]

I know what you mean. Towns and cities are almost defined by NPCs and humans walking around. But is "empty" a bad thing? It can add to ambience and atmosphere. Many horror games use just that to create a scary feel.

Of course, I can always add in friendly animals, creatures, etc. And there will be people to interact with in flashbacks.

Thanks for the feedback, though. Let me know if you have any other comments regarding the backstory?

 

[Cryranos]

Did the Outlanders just disappear, too?

 

[regi]

Both sides were killed as a result of the war, but how is the spoiler/mystery you'll be solving throughout the game.

 

[regi]

After much thought, I've decided to make each area's backstory independent of each other. In other words, each dungeon will have its own conflict and its own resolution.

The problem with previous attempts was that plots would get too convoluted and boring after awhile. This strategy will allow making each separate dungeon fresh and interesting, as well as opening the game up to many motifs and plots! Each plotline would be short and simple, and easily splittable into releasable chunks.

 

[regi]

Hey guys! The premise and concept are pretty much solidified now, and I have some nice gameplay content going for a demo. May be looking toward a release next week, if testing goes well. If you're interested and committed to helping out, drop me a PM and I'll let you check out the subforum